AVSpeechSynthesizer isn't working under ios16 anymore

Question

I wrote a little function for a text2speech function for my app. the code works fine until ios16. now I see the following console logs:

022-09-13 18:04:02.274692+0200 Blindzeln_Prototyp[47358:164517] [asset] Failed to get sandbox extensions
2022-09-13 18:04:02.314956+0200 Blindzeln_Prototyp[47358:164517] [catalog] Query for com.apple.MobileAsset.VoiceServicesVocalizerVoice failed: 2
2022-09-13 18:04:02.315688+0200 Blindzeln_Prototyp[47358:164517] [catalog] Unable to list voice folder
2022-09-13 18:04:02.333665+0200 Blindzeln_Prototyp[47358:164517] [catalog] Query for com.apple.MobileAsset.VoiceServices.GryphonVoice failed: 2
2022-09-13 18:04:02.334239+0200 Blindzeln_Prototyp[47358:164517] [catalog] Unable to list voice folder
2022-09-13 18:04:02.338622+0200 Blindzeln_Prototyp[47358:164517] [catalog] Unable to list voice folder
2022-09-13 18:04:02.355732+0200 Blindzeln_Prototyp[47358:164583] [AXTTSCommon] File did not exist at content path: (null) (null). Attempting to fallback to default voice for language: (null)
2022-09-13 18:04:02.420342+0200 Blindzeln_Prototyp[47358:164583] [AXTTSCommon] Error: Unable to speak. No speech service: voice: (null) identifier: (null), language: (null), resource: (null)

here's the simple code:

import Foundation
import AVFoundation

func sayIt(text2speech: String) {
    let utterance = AVSpeechUtterance(string: String(text2speech))
    utterance.voice = AVSpeechSynthesisVoice(language: "de-DE")
    utterance.rate = 0.5
    
    let synthesizer = AVSpeechSynthesizer()
    synthesizer.speak(utterance)
}

any hints?

Answer 1

Try moving

let synthesizer = AVSpeechSynthesizer()

outside of the function. That worked for me.

Answer 2

The settings that Rohit describes worked for me on the iOS 16 simulator. Apparently the iOS 16 simulators are not loaded with any voices by default. The exact sequence was as follows on the simulated device itself:

Settings/Accessibility/Spoken Content Must turn on Speak Selection. That will list Voices. Touch that. Select your language. Pick a voice. Click the download button. Wait. When done, you can back out and turn off Speak Selection on the way if you want. Turning it on is necessary to be able to select and download a voice.